Urgent request for your help again since some of you are having trouble signing the petition through yesterday's link. Supplements will not just become terribly expensive but, unless you act now, many will be gone forever.

The FDA has had this regulation on the books for 17 years, now they have figured out a way without any new laws to make most supplements unavailable without millions of dollars of studies per item. This is always in the name of protecting the public whereas the fact is there are VIRTUALLY NO DEATHS FROM SUPPPLEMENT USE. According to the Poison Control Centers, there were zero deaths due to supplements in 2008. In 2009, there was one.

Please go to the bottom of the attached and complain, as enough voices being heard by our representatives might stop the FDA from implementing these onerous regulations.

Please find below a special message from Advanced Bionutritionals. They have some very important information to share with you about the latest attempt by the FDA to ban supplements.

Read the shocking news below.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Rowen, MD

Dear friend,

I know I've sent you a lot of emails about the new FDA rules. Sorry to keep bothering you. But this is a critical issue. The deadline to comment is December 2. That's tomorrow!Some of our customers have heard back from their Congressmen. That's good. What's not good is that some of them are misinformed.

For example, Senator Mark Warner writes:

"This guidance, when finalized, does not create new regulations or law. According to the FDA, the industry can use an alternative approach if the approach is consistent with the applicable provisions under an existing law, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA)."

True, it doesn't create a new law. Frankly, that would be easier to fight! Instead these new regulations interpret existing law to wipe out 17 years of safety and innovation.And Senator Maria Cantwell writes:

"In its new guidance the FDA recommends that a manufacturer should include information explaining the composition of the ingredient, why the ingredient is considered new, recommended usage by consumers, and why the ingredient is considered safe."

Senator Cantwell glosses over what kind of proof the FDA will require to consider a "new" ingredient safe. I put "new" in quotes because these nutrients really aren't new. They come from nature.

But under these proposed guidelines, the FDA will consider any ingredient "new" if a different extraction process is used, if a different "life stage" (like ripe instead of unripe) is used, or even if a supplement uses more of an ingredient than was used 17 years ago.Bear in mind, that people have been safely taking these ingredients for years - even decades!

Yet the FDA will require companies to conduct prohibitively expensive studies on every ingredient in a product and on every product a company sells.

It is true that the DSHEA of 1994 directed the FDA to define "New Dietary Ingredients." But the FDA did nothing for 17 years. In that time, hundreds - even thousands - of "new" ingredients have been introduced.

Now the FDA wants to ignore nearly two decades of innovation and turn back the clock. Dr. Robert Rowen made a good comparison. What if someone from the government came along and replaced your current computer with a model from 1994? Or swapped your smart phone for a clunky early model cell phone? That's what the FDA wants to do.This is not hysteria. This is not a mis-reading of the FDA's proposed guidelines. This information comes directly from the FDA's own website.

If enacted, these rules will enable the FDA to ban many of the supplements you are now taking.

With the intention of flooding 70% of the global cocoa supply with genetically modified (GMO) cocoa tree hybrids, a collaboration involving Mars, USDA and IBM is accelerating this process.

With primary funding from US chocolate producer Mars, the partnership includes scientists based at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the US Department of Agriculture and Science as well as researchers working at IBM’s Thomas J Watson Research Center.

The scientists are determined to finalize gene sequencing of the cocoa genome which they say will "benefit" the chocolate industry and cocoa growers in West Africa where 70 percent of the world's cocoa is produced, and in other tropical zones.

Monsanto has been declared the Worst Company of 2011 by NaturalSociety for threatening both human health and the environment. The leader in genetically modified seeds and crops, Monsanto is currently responsible for 90 percent of the genetically engineered seed on the United States market. Outside of GM seeds, Monsanto is also the creator of the best-selling herbicide Roundup, which has spawned over 120 million hectacres of herbicide-resistant superweeds while damaging much of the soil. Despite hard evidence warning against the amplified usage of genetically modified crops, biopesticides, and herbicides, Monsanto continues to disregard all warning signs.

In a powerful review of 19 studies analyzing the dangers of GMO crops such as corn and soybeans, researchers revealed some shocking information regarding the safety of these popular food staples. Researchers found that consumption of GMO corn or soybeans may lead to significant organ disruptions in rats and mice – particularly in the liver and kidneys. This is particularly concerning due to the fact that 93 percent of U.S. soybeans are known to be genetically modified. Ignoring this evidence, Monsanto continues to expand their genetic manipulation.CONTINU AT: [link to naturalsociety.com]

NZ food bill to make growing food a government privilege rather than a human rightWednesday, December 07, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

The God-given human right to freely cultivate food is under attack in New Zealand (NZ) as special interest groups and others are currently attempting to push a "food security" bill through the nation's parliament that will strip individuals of their right to grow food, save seeds, and even share the fruits of their labor with friends and family members.

In accordance with the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Codex Alimentarius scheme for global food control, the NZ Food Bill, if passed, will essentially transfer primary control of food from individuals to corporations under the guise of food safety. And unless massive public outcry and awakened consciences within the NZ government are able to put a stop to it, the bill could become law very soon.

The Destruction of Canada's Family FarmOpen Letter To Environmental Groups from an Alberta grain farmerby Arthur W. MacklinDecember 9, 2011

Open Letter To Environmental Groups from an Alberta grain farmer, November 27, 2011I am a Canadian wheat and barley producer; who values and respects democratic process. I want to protect the environment, preserve wild life habitat and I am very concerned about climate change

The Harper government is intent on destroying our Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) (BillC-18) before Canadians have time to become aware of the negative effects this fundamental change to grain marketing will have on the environment and many other aspects of Canadian life and our food.

IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT1. Trees will be bulldozed and burnt, wind breaks taken out, fence rows cleared, wetlands drained as larger farm operations take over control of the land.

5. Genetically modified, glyphosate resistant wheat and other genetically modified crops will be licensed for production and more super weeds will develop requiring combinations of even stronger chemicals to control.

6. The genetically modified crops will cross pollinate with other crops and make organic production difficult if not impossible as has already happened with canola.

7. Corporate controlled factory farms will increasingly take over production and control of land with the associated problems of water and air pollution.

8. Genetic diversity of food crops will decrease.

OTHER AREAS OF CONCERN1. Rural depopulation as family farms become less economically viable.

2. Increased taxes to maintain roads as more rail lines are abandoned.

3. More concentration of wealth in a small group and less equality in society.

It seems that Monsanto may be having a rough week. Not only was the company hit by a press release declaring them the worst company of 2011, but a group of Anonymous hackers claim to have actually completely disrupted the operations of a PR firm which manages Monsanto’s own PR. The hackers infiltrated the PR firm, known as The Biving Group, due to “15+years of running marketing campaigns and helping some of the most corrupt corporations on the planet, as well as several governmental agencies, cover up their dirt.”

The hackers claimed to have succeeded in bringing down The Bivings Group on December 5th . Going by information released by Anonymous, Bivings Group shut down all of their servers and liquidated their assets after the infiltration, while former employees moved on to start ‘The Brick Factory’, a new PR firm. The hackers actions are obviously driven by the PR firm’s decision to help run marketing campaigns and for corrupt corporations like Monsanto.

If there was any doubt whatsoever about the USDA being just another terrorist arm of the biotech industry, it has left the building. No doubt remains at all about the USDA’s intentions to cooperate with the contamination and poisoning of our food supply, planet, and every living thing on it by the chemical companies now in charge of just about everything used to formulate the food-like substances that we see lining our grocery store shelves.

Under a new two-year pilot program at the USDA, regulators are training the world’s biggest biotech firms, including Monsanto, BASF and Syngenta, to conduct environmental reviews of their own transgenic seed products as part of the government’s deregulation process. (Truth-out)

In a groundbreaking study published in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry last month, researchers found that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide “Roundup,” is flowing freely into the groundwater in areas where it is being applied.

The researchers found that 41% of the 140 groundwater samples taken from Catalonia Spain, had levels beyond the limit of quantification – indicating that, despite manufacturer’s claims, it does not break down rapidly in the environment, and is accumulating there in concerning quantities.

Why Is Groundwater Contamination An Important Finding?Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface, that supplies aquifers, wells and springs. If a chemical like glyphosate is mobile enough to get into the groundwater and is intrinsically resistant to being biodegraded (after all, it is being used to kill/degrade living things – not the other way around), significant environmental exposures to humans using the water are inevitable.

Keep in mind that glyphosate is considered by the EPA as a Class III toxic substance, fatal to an adult at 30 grams, and has been linked to over 20 adverse health effects in the peer-reviewed, biomedical literature.

This groundwater contamination study adds to another highly concerning finding from March, published in the journal of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, where researchers found the chemical in 60-100% of all air and rain samples tested, indicating that glyphosate pollution and exposure is now omnipresent in the US. When simply breathing makes you susceptible to glyphosate exposure, we know we are dealing with a problem of unprecedented scale.

Who Is Responsible For The Groundwater Contamination? Monsanto is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation, presently dominating the global genetically engineered seed market, with 90% market share in the US alone. It is also the world’s largest producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed as “Roundup,” among other brand names. If you are eating corn and soy, or any of their ten thousand plus byproducts – and it does not have a USDA organic logo – you are getting the Monsanto “double whammy”: the genetic modification (GM) of your health (and gene expression) that follows the consumption of GM food (because we are – literally – what we eat), and ceaseless chemical exposure to glyphosate, as all Monsanto-engineered foods have been designed to be glyphosate-resistant, and therefore are saturated with it.

A healthy, balanced diet is vital for anyone who wants good health. That everyone knows. But what we also need to know is that everything eaten interferes with the functioning of the "complex machine" that is the human body. With the brain, the coordinator of all our tasks, this influence is even more relevant.

Therefore, we must invest in more foods that help improve brain function, in the quest for the physical well-being and mental health. Now meet the main foods that ensure the health of your brain, and why they are important to be on the plate:

Need a last minute gift for your beloved locavore? Several books would make excellent holiday gifts, so this review covers a few of them on the environment, as it relates to local food sovereignty, food security and palate delight. There’s even one for kids, which starts the set:

Bloated biotech giant Monsanto has admitted to using their influence to block an initiative introduced by Boulder, Colorado to ban the growing of genetically modified crops on county soil.

While county officials and farmers claimed that Monsanto influence had nothing to do with the blocking of the health conscious legislation, the company itself has admitted to being involved.

Furthermore, Monsanto may have actually set up phony ‘GMO co-existence’ protests in order to voice phony public support against the bill. After the admitted involvement of Monsanto and the curious protests, the county commissioners changed their formerly anti-GMO tune.

Instead of banning GMO crops, the Boulder County commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to allow for the growing of some GMO crops on county-owned open land.

Today I read an article on slashdot titled “New Study Confirms Safety of GM Crops“. Before you navigate away from this article, please be assured they were not citing the National Enquirer. The study was conducted in France, with assistance from the usual suspects (British universities, biotechnology corporations, etc).

Also involved in the study were rodents — clearly a dietary staple of the French, and biologically (or psychologically?) identical to certain English academics.

The “evidence” cited in the study shows that — at least to monocled marsupials — GM plants are “nutritionally equivalent to their non-GM counterparts and can be safely used in food and feed.” Of course “food and feed” are not exclusive aspects of GM agriculture — or even agriculture — but corporate-sponsored research has its own perspective . . . Never mind the trace minerals and everything else!

As usual, the slashdot comments were many, and the views varied; organic versus conventional, ridicule and support of both, with lots between — all shedding light on people’s views of the subject. Admittedly, geeks may not be the best authority on such topics — often compiled of pizza and soft-drinks — but I fear they do provide an example of popular opinion regardless. Many see GM as a noble science, helping to feed the world’s growing population. Some see “organic” anthropocentrically, reducing it to a matter of pesticides, nutrition, and prices. Few seem to have a balanced perspective though.

While the FDA’s NDI (New Dietary Ingredient) regulations seek to remove your right to freely purchase powerful superfoods, they are simply not concerned over the fact that GMO food consumption has been linked with severe organ disruption and other health concerns.Continue: [link to www.activistpost.com]

With no notice other than a holiday-eve posting in the Federal Register, the US Food and Drug Administration has reneged on its long-stated intention to compel large-scale agriculture to curb over-use of agricultural antibiotics, which it had planned to do by reversing its approval for putting penicillin and tetracyclines in feed.

How long-stated? The FDA first announced its intention to withdraw those approvals in 1977.

From the official posting: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) is withdrawing two 1977 notices of opportunity for a hearing (NOOH), which proposed to withdraw certain approved uses of penicillin and tetracyclines intended for use in feeds for food-producing animals based in part on microbial food safety concerns.1 … (1FDA’s approval to withdraw the approved uses of the drugs was based on three statutory grounds: (1) The drugs are not shown to be safe (21 U.S.C. 360b(e)(1)(B)); (2) lack of substantial evidence of effectiveness (21 U.S.C. 360b(e)(1)(C)); and (3) failure to submit required reports (21 U.S.C. 360b(e)(2)(A)).)CONTINUE: [link to www.wired.com]

An Open Letter to Farmers and ConsumersSource: Julian RoseActivist Post

Consumers:

Listen - do you want to survive? Do you want to have something edible on your plate?

Do you seriously believe that what you currently buy from the supermarkets and hypermarkets is actually providing you with your nutritional needs? Do you even care? Or are you “too busy to think about it.” Do you ever read the label on the packaging? Do you know what all those 'e' numbers are or mean? The synthetic preservatives, colors and additives which form a significant part of the 'food' you eat – do you realize what they are doing to you and your children and your grandchildren?

Well I'll tell you: they are destroying your immune systems – that's what they are doing. They are eating away at your natural resistance to disease. They are hardening your arteries. They are blocking up the valves of your heart. They are contributing to the chances of getting cancer. Have you noticed that people are getting sick more and more frequently? If you haven't noticed you must have been asleep for the past decade. How many times have you felt “really well” recently? Not often? Have you wondered why?

No one has ever seen a perfect circle, nor a perfectly straight line, yet everyone knows what a circle and a straight line are.Perceived circles or lines are not exactly circular or straight, and true circles and lines could never be detected since by definition they are sets of infinitely small points.

I try to avoid GMOs at all costs these days. But I never thought about this until now...about 10 years ago, I started noticing that whenever I ate a large amount of corn, I would always get a headache. Especially popcorn.

That never happened to me growing up, and I grew up in Nebraska...land of the corn. It wasn't until recently when corn started becoming GMO.

Here's an article from '99 on the dangers of horizontal gene transfer and GMOs.

Fears that genetically-modified foods might promote drug-resistant "superbugs" have been fuelled by new research.

Dutch scientists used a computer-controlled artificial gut to show that DNA remains intact for several minutes in the large intestine.

Hub Noteborn, of the State Institute for Quality Control of Agricultural Products in Wageningen, said in New Scientist magazine: "It was a surprise to see that DNA persisted so long in the colon."

This persistence means it might be possible for genes to jump from genetically-modified (GM) food into bacteria in the gut of farm animals. Previously some scientists have said there was no risk as the modified DNA breaks down too quickly.

If the transferred genes were the antibiotic-resistance genes used as markers in some GM crops fed to livestock, then serious health risks might result.

No one has ever seen a perfect circle, nor a perfectly straight line, yet everyone knows what a circle and a straight line are.Perceived circles or lines are not exactly circular or straight, and true circles and lines could never be detected since by definition they are sets of infinitely small points.

One of the nation's most widely planted crops — a genetically engineered corn plant that makes its own insecticide — may be losing its effectiveness because a major pest appears to be developing resistance more quickly than scientists expected.

One of the nation's most widely planted crops — a genetically engineered corn plant that makes its own insecticide — may be losing its effectiveness because a major pest appears to be developing resistance more quickly than scientists expected.

The U.S. food supply is not in any immediate danger because the problem remains isolated. But scientists fear potentially risky farming practices could be blunting the hybrid's sophisticated weaponry.

When it was introduced in 2003, so-called Bt corn seemed like the answer to farmers' dreams: It would allow growers to bring in bountiful harvests using fewer chemicals because the corn naturally produces a toxin that poisons western corn rootworms. The hybrid was such a swift success that it and similar varieties now account for 65 percent of all U.S. corn acres — grain that ends up in thousands of everyday foods such as cereal, sweeteners and cooking oil.

But over the last few summers, rootworms have feasted on the roots of Bt corn in parts of four Midwestern states, suggesting that some of the insects are becoming resistant to the crop's pest-fighting powers.

Scientists say the problem could be partly the result of farmers who've planted Bt corn year after year in the same fieldsContinue: [link to www.startribune.com]

I have purchased some bulk foods in the past. The thing that scares me is that this indutry is beging consolidated by the Morom's who must own most of the bulk food bussiness in the U.S. A good comp. I was dealing w/ in NC was just bought out by the Mormon's. This does not pass the smell test.

Just think if get a Mormon Pres. what the implications could be. I don't trust that any of these companies are not keeping tract of what you purchase as it is against the law to have more than several weeks of stored food on hand. Also, w/ all the GMO garbage that is around(about 80-90% of all corn and soy are GMO w/in the U.S.)I do not trust that things labeled ORGANIC are really organic.

The best way to gain adequete nutirtion I believe is to start eating a plant based diet grown in you backyard from heritage seeds and stored.

Wheatgrass and sprouting and jucing these substaces are great ways to obtain enough valuable nutrition and are easy to grow indoors. These substances have not been contaminated yet. Stock up now and no I don't own any company that sells this stuff.

The main thing that scares me about GMO crops is the great risk of massive crop failures. These crops have no hybred vigor. They are all genetically identical. If a virus, bacteria, fungus or insect should come along that is capable of infecting these GMO plants they could wipe out the entire annual crop yield. This could be a cataclysm as all animal based food is dependent upon these crops and could result in massive starvation of these animals and then people who depend on them for food.

Last year in South Africa, a country that grows 100% GMO corm which is their main staple. There was an 80% crop failure in this country. Can you imagine if this happens worldwide? Something to think about. Don't depend on the local grocery store anymore.

Monsanto’s genetically modified corn, which has been hailed as the answer to many farmers’ prayers, has actually been creating resistant superbugs for years.

The genetically modified crop known as Bt corn has been altered to produce its own toxin, a pesticide called Bacillus thuringiensis which was implemented into the crop to kill off rootworms before they have a chance to ruin the crop.

However the truth of the matter is that this hybrid crop, taking up 65 percent of all U.S. corn production, has been shown to cause a resistance in rootworm beetles, rendering the crop useless.